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Download & install Microsoft Store AppX container

This guide is intended as a transition and for a very specific problem case. Unfortunately, not all software vendors maintain their packages on the different platforms. Since Microsoft has discontinued the Microsoft Store for Business since mid 2023 and the successor solution WinGet is not quite mature, respectively requires a lot of maintenance of the software vendors, there is a workaround.

This workaround is only necessary if, for example, installing a Microsoft Store app on an enterprise device using WinGet does not work.
To test this, the app can be searched for in the (web) store and then the ID can be taken from the URL and installed using WinGet:
https://apps.microsoft.com/store/detail/whatsapp/9NKSQGP7F2NH

winget install 9NKSQGP7F2NH

Workaround

If the above does not work, the AppX container of the app can be downloaded through the store and added via PowerShell. This requires the store URL and a third party web page.

  1. Go to this webpage and paste the store URL.
  2. Select the latest or desired version (e.g. "5319275A.WhatsAppDesktop_2.2320.2.0_neutral_~_cv1g1gvanyjgm.msixbundle") and download the msixbundle of the application.
  3. Copy the file to the desired location and open PowerShell as Admin in the same directory.
  4. At the end you just have to add the AppX file to your Windows Installation with the following command:
Add-AppxProvisionedPackage -PackagePath "<yourpathtomsixbundlefile>" -Online -skiplicense

Then you should be able to open the app as it was installed via the Microsoft Store.

Troubleshooting

Sometimes there are problems with the licenses. A license file can be added in the PowerShell code. Unfortunately, this use case must be viewed per application. You can find more information about this in the PowerShell module manual: Add-AppxProvisionedPackage (DISM) | Microsoft Learn

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